


Tell Him

by theboardwalkbody



Category: Preacher (TV)
Genre: Reader-Insert, depictions of physical injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 14:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7466802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theboardwalkbody/pseuds/theboardwalkbody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slight re-imagining of episode 7 to include reader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Him

“I spoke with Tulip earlier,” Cassidy announced walking into the room where you were trying to read in peace.

“And…?” you asked, not looking up from your book.  
“And she’s right, I didn’t really tell Jesse. About me I mean,” he explained.

You looked up from your book now, dog-earing a corner to bookmark your place, “I thought you told him you were a vampire like, the first few days you were here?” 

“I did, well, I mentioned it,” Cassidy crossed the room and sat down in a chair across from you. “He doesn’t believe me, he thinks I’m joking.”  
“Why does it matter now? Just because Tulip mentioned it…” you started.  
“It matters because he’s my best mate! She’s right, I don’t know him well and he doesn’t know shit about me, neither”, he explained, frustrated.  
“So what are you going to do, Cass?” you asked.  
“I’ve got to show him”, he sighed. 

“Show him? How the hell are you going to show him?” You didn’t like where this conversation was going. There was no way you could think of that wouldn’t end up horrible. It wasn’t like Cassidy was going to show him something glamorous. No, what Cassidy had to show him was all but short of abomination. 

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted.  
“Cassidy,” you said softly, leaning closer to him, “I get that it’s important to you that he knows but please just promise me this: Don’t do anything crazy, nothing too big. Understand?”  
“Hmmf,” he muttered.  
“Cass, I mean it. Please don’t do anything crazy,” you requested.  
“I’ll try not to, Love,” he smiled. You’ve seen more genuine ones from him but without knowing exactly what he had in mind it was hard to try and change anything. 

——

Dinner was awkward to say the least. It wasn’t great but you politely ate the dinner Tulip had prepared for you, Emily, Jesse, Cassidy, and herself. The only one at the table contributing any conversation was Cassidy, who was bestowing upon everyone a drug-fueled rant about The Big Lebowski, so it wasn’t much of a conversation, really. In between words Cassidy scooped huge bites of food, loaded with ketchup into his mouth. Tensions rose when Tulip decided to confront Jesse about what’s been eating him for the last day now which was then made worse by the sudden appearance of Sheriff Root. Cassidy had told you what Jesse had done to Eugene, you didn’t want to believe it but after all that had happened over the last several weeks you couldn’t doubt it, either.

You’d kept your mouth shut when the Sherriff showed up looking for his missing son. 

It was a welcome break from the awkwardness of the situation when the oven caught fire. Protectively Cassidy pushed you aside and grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher to put out the fire while everyone, except for Jesse, rushed to help clear the air of the smoke. When the fire was out Jesse offered to walk the Sheriff out to his car. Once the two had left Cassidy picked up the fire extinguisher once more and began walking out of the church in the direction Jesse and the Sheriff had gone. 

“Cassidy….” you questioned, “what are you doing?”  
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I’m just going to talk to him,” he said.  
“With that?” you remarked.  
“Never mind that”, he said and kept walking. 

You waited in the kitchen with Emily and Tulip for a few moments, sitting back down when the room was once more smoke-free.

“What do you think is going on?” Tulip asked you.  
“What do you mean? With Jesse?” Emily questioned.  
You knew Tulip didn’t mean Jesse, “I don’t know, but if he’s not back in a few moments I’m going to go find out.”

Tulip nodded. Emily, confused and a little hurt at being ignored, turned her gaze back towards her nearly full plate of food. 

After a few more moments you couldn’t handle not know what was happening any longer so you quickly rose up from your chair and all but ran to the front of the church. Not wanting to interrupt anything but still wanting, no, needing, to know what was happening you peered through the crack in the large door to watch. 

You watched as Cassidy tossed the fire extinguisher to Jesse, you watched as he stripped off his hoodie and the ratty old shirt he’d gotten from the donations to the poor box, you watched as Cassidy made to move out of the safety of the church’s shadow and towards the sunlight.

“No…” you whispered to yourself, dread filling your gut making you feel sick, making your heart race so quickly you became dizzy and short of breath.  
You pushed the door to the church open and stepped outside, “No! Cassidy!”  
You were too late. As soon as the sun hit him he began to burn, a morbid part of you was amazed at how quickly it all happened, the skin bubbling, blistering, the muscle burning away instantly. But mostly you were distraught, you hated to admit, and honestly didn’t want to, that you had actually fallen in love with him, and now you were watching him burn, watching him scream in agony and collapse to the ground.

And Jesse wasn’t doing anything.

“Cassidy!” you yelled again, as if yelling his name would stop anything, would change anything. You looked away from him, burning in the dirt outside of a church in front of a preacher, in front of someone who he thought was his best friend, and looked at Jesse. 

“Put him out, Jesse! For fucks sake!” your voice choking from the sadness that had gripped you.

He ignored you.

“Jesse! Please! I love him!” you cried.

He looked away from Cassidy and up to you then. 

“Please. Please stop this. Please help him.” You could taste nothing but salt on your tongue from your tears, you could hear nothing but Cassidy’s screams, you could see nothing but blurry images from the tears flooding your eyes.  
After what felt like an eternity Jesse pulled the trigger on the extinguisher and stopped Cassidy’s torture. You ran over, reached down, and dragged Cassidy back into the shade. You hoped it was gentle enough, you didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was. Your hands were sticky with his blood as you cried, resting his head in your lap. Jesse walked by the two of you without a backward glance as he headed back into the church.

“You fucking…” you started, “God damn it Cassidy, what the fuck do we do now?” 

He was a sight to see that was for sure. His hair had burned off, his body was a mess; his torso was nothing but charred muscle and flesh, the bone exposed in a few places, he was more blister and blood than man. You needed to get him blood, that you knew, but you had no idea where from and the idea of trying to drag him anywhere to get it made you want to scream, you didn’t want to tear him apart in addition to having let him burn.

“I should have fucking stopped you. Fuck, Cassidy!” you shouted at him, different emotions wreaking havoc on you. 

His charred hand weakly gripped your wrist. He wasn’t dying anymore. At least there was that, you thought. You pulled yourself and your thoughts together; he needs blood to heal and he’ll be absolutely fine, you thought, you just need to find him some – taking him out to a farm or something and find him an animal he could kill, you remembered him telling you how he’d fed from a cow after jumping out of a plane and figured if it worked then it would work now. 

How the fuck am I going to get him anywhere by myself, you thought.

Luckily, you wouldn’t have to. Tulip came running out the door almost like an answer to your unspoken thought. 

“Shit!” she said when she saw the two of you and the state Cassidy was in. “That dick.”  
“Help me move him?” you asked; your voice sounding like nothing more than a squeak. You hated asking for help, but you had to, for his sake.  
“Yeah, of course.” Tulip replied.


End file.
